Merchandise-transfer apparatus.



No. 75 436. Patented Dec. 9, I902. A. W. SWAMTZ.

MERCHANDISE TRANSFER APPARATUS;

(Application filed Feb. 20, 1901. 4 (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Qlwatj.

m: mums PETERS co. PMmnLm-qu, wxsumcms. n. c

Patented Dec. 9, I902. A. W. SWANITZ.

MERCHANDISE TRANSFER. APPARATUS.

(Application filed Feb. 20,1901.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

' r" "F -Fri 1 I L '4 Ulllllllllllllllllllllll IIII.IIIIIIfUIIIIIIIIIIIII'II"III,III'IIl-IIIIIIIIIII'I'IIIIIII!IIII,IIJIIIIIIIIIII'IIIImum 0 Tn: uanav: PETEPCQU Fnmmlmoi. WASHWGYON. a. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER IV. SWANITZ, OE OHIGAGQILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE SWAN- IT ZCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

lVl ERCHANDlSE-TRANSFER APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 715,436, dated December:9, 1902. Application filedli'ebruary 20, 1901. Serial No. 48,174. (Nomodel.)

T at whom it may concern:

Be it known that'l, ALEXANDER WILLIAM SWANI'IZ, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have in-' Ventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Merchandise-Transfer Apparatus,(Case No. 3,) of which the following, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a specification; V

My invention has for its object the provision of improved means fortransferring merchandise or freight whichis brought into a terminal inwhat is called broken car-lots and which hasto be sorted out,redistributed, and then loaded upon other cars for transshipment.

In carrying out my present invention I provide a couple of tracks,spaced some distance apart, and between the same erect a transferhouseor shelter provided with walls having door-openings therein atintervals, arranged with the lower sills thereof substantially on alevel with the level of the floor of the cars Within the said standingon the said tracks. shelter and between the said tracks I provide atraction-floor constructed, preferably, with some hard smoothbearing-surface," such as sheet-steel, resting upon a foundation made ofconcrete'or other like material, and upon 0 said traction-floor I mountplatforms adjacent to the said door-openings, the said platforms beingmade in sections, with the sections carried by rollers and provided withmotor devices, whereby they can be moved by power from one part of saidtraction-floor to any other, as the circumstances may require.

In order to better understand myinvention, reference may now be had tothe accompany- 0 ing drawings, in which- Figure l is a transversesection showing merchandise-transfer apparatus constructed in accordancewith my invention, and Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of the same.

Spaced some distance apart I provide a conple of tracks 3, constructedto receive cars at, and between the said tracks I erect a transfer-househaving a roof 5 and side walls 6, the side walls being provided withdoor-open- 5o ings 7, the lower sills of which 8 are approximately on alevel with the level of the floors tially level with the Patent, is-

of the cars 4:. Between the tracks 3 and within the transfer-house Iprovide a traction-floor 9, having a bearing-surface of some hard smoothmaterial and constructed without 5 5 rails or obstructions. I nextprovide platforms the upper surface whereof is substansills 8 and whichare made in sections or parts 10, each section being mounted on rollers11, resting upon the traction-floor 9, and'provided with a motor de vice12 for moving the same by power.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The car upon the left ofthe drawings in Fig.

1 being placed upon the track 3, with its door opposite the door-opening7, one of the movable sections of the platform 10 is placed adjacent tosaid door-opening, as shown in said Fig. 1, and the merchandise to betransferred placed upon it, being taken out of the car 7o through saiddoor opening. The movable section 10 of theplatform is now run across bymeans of the motor 12 to a position adjacent to the car to, which thegoods which it carries are to be transferred when they are taken 0E andput into such car.

By the above arrangement it is obvious that where a number of movableplatform-sections are employed the goods can be transferred directlyfrom car to platform and then without further moving from platform tocar with the greatest facility, this arrangement making it unnecessaryto take the goods out of the car and distribute them on a fixed platformand then transferring them from the fixed platform to a carrying-truckand then from a carrying-truck to another fixed platform and from thelatter to the car of their destination.

By the use of my present invention it is also obvious that where a number of movable plat- 9o form-sections are employed, as described, thegoods to be transferred can be readily sorted out, those intended foreach separate outgoing car or number of cars being placed upon separatetrucks, which can be moved up to 5 the car from which the goods aretaken each in turn and loaded with maximum facility.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters 1. A merchandise-transfer apparatus comprising twocar-tracks spaced some distance thereto, a traction-floor withinsaid'transferhouse extending parallel with said track,dooropenings inthe side Walls of said house arranged at intervals with the sillsthereof upon a level with the floors of the cars standing upon saidtrack, and a movable platform-section mounted upon rollers upon saidtractionfloor and having its upper surface on a level with the sills ofsaid door-openings, and power mechanism for moving said movable plat-oform-section, substantially as described.

ALEXANDER W. SWANITZ. Witnesses:

PAUL CARPENTER, FRANK O. GREEN.

